Gore’s, Pickens’ Energy Challenges Need Smart Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, is responding to Al Gore’s and T. Boone Pickens’ proposals to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil with a call to action that is unfortunately relegated to the back seat in their plans.

While increased use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy should be everyone’s goal, Yeager is calling for a stronger electric power grid as an essential first step that will allow for the full integration of renewables — and meet our growing demand for energy in our homes and industries and for transportation.

As Al Gore acknowledges, our current grid is based on 1950s technology and thus obsolete. According to Yeager and the Initiative, the only way to embrace renewable energy on a large scale is to make our grid “smarter” with up-to-date digital controls and communications technology. This technology allows the grid to anticipate the natural fluctuations in wind and solar power and keep power supply in lock-step with consumer demand.

MarketWatch